Letters

Pacifists and the census form

Why has the CPS chosen our respected Stroud mayor John Marjoram, 72, a pensioner and Quaker, to prosecute for refusing to sign the census form on conscientious grounds, when over 750,000 others have also not completed their forms (120 convicted for failing to fill in census, 28 January)? What criteria did the CPS use for choosing John, and also our 84-year-old local war tax refuser Roger Franklin? And why will they be tried in Bristol on 8 February and not in Stroud?

On the day we had to return our forms, Gaza was being bombed by Lockheed Martin F16s. As part of a group of Quaker census refusers, we feel completing the census form and so contributing £150m to the profits of Lockheed Martin, which won the census contract, is in direct opposition to our peace testimony which calls on us to refuse to engage in all preparation for all wars. Lockheed is the world's largest arms maker, making cluster bombs, Trident, and F16 warplanes.Martin and Judy Large, Perdita and Michael Dawson, Caroline Simpson Nailsworth Friends Meeting, Stroud, Gloucestershire

• Your article ought to have been on the front page. It means it's once more illegal here for pacifists to follow their consciences: we face criminal records for refusing to collude with a company which deals wholesale in death. I did submit my census form, but I covered it with post-it notes decorated with anti-war art and slogans. I suppose that means I have escaped prosecution, but there can be no doubt that those 120 have done good service in the fight against the creeping militarisation of this country. We should applaud them.Dr Giles WatsonUffington, Oxfordshire